Collective vehicle traffic routing

ABSTRACT

A system and method provides a route and turn-by-turn directions based on estimates of current and future traffic along the route. A client device may request turn-by-turn directions between an initial and a final location. A server may identify a plurality of routes between the locations. Each route of the plurality of routes may be divided into route segments. For each route segment of a particular route, the server may estimate a travel time. The travel time may be based on estimated vehicle volume data generated from information received from other users vehicle Based on the estimated travel time for each route segment of a particular route, the server may estimate a total travel time for the particular route. The server may repeat this estimate for each of the plurality of routes between the locations and select the route with the lowest estimated travel time. Based on the selected route, the server may generate turn-by-turn directions and transmit the directions to the client device for display.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/392,164 having a filing date of Dec. 28, 2016, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/635,685 having a filingdate of Mar. 2, 2015 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,644,981, which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.12/757,178 having a filing date of Apr. 9, 2010 and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 8,972,171. Applicants claim priority to and benefit of all suchapplications and incorporate all such applications herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various navigation systems provide users with turn-by-turn directions.These systems include handheld GPS devices or mobile phones,vehicle-mounted devices, or Internet-based computers with access toapplications such as Google Maps. Users input one or more locations andreceive a route and turn-by-turn directions. Generally, these systemsgenerate turn-by-turn directions based on static map data, for example,routing users along the biggest roadways or roads with the highest speedlimits. These systems may select the fastest route based on the shortestestimated time to travel along the route. Some systems may incorporatetraffic conditions, for example reports of congestion, into thiscalculation. The user may follow the turn-by-turn directions to reachthe one or more locations.

Each user requesting turn-by-turn directions is thus provided with the“fastest route” at the time the request is made. However, the actualtravel time along the route may vary depending on the accuracy andextent of the traffic information. Traffic conditions may be very timesensitive, that is, the current level of traffic at a particularlocation may change by the time the user gets to that location. Inanother example, if a large number of users request turn-by-turndirections between the same two locations, these systems provide thesame turn-by-turn directions to each user. Thus, these systems mayactually generate additional traffic and the selected route may nolonger be the fastest route between the two locations by the time theuser is actually on the road.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to routing vehicles to balancethe relative traffic on different roads, or on different routes to thesame destination. More specifically, the invention relates to providingroutes and turn by turn directions based on estimates of current andfuture traffic along the routes.

An aspect of the invention provides a method of providing turn-by-turndirections to a device on a network. The method includes receiving, froma device, a request for turn-by-turn directions including an initiallocation and a final location; determining, by a server device, aplurality of routes between the initial location and the final location,wherein each of the plurality of routes is associated with a pluralityof route segments; for each particular route segment of the plurality ofroute segments, estimating a total time of travel based on an estimatedtravel time for each of the plurality of route segments associated withthe particular route, wherein the estimated travel time for theparticular route segment is based on vehicle volume data associated withthe particular route segment, and wherein the vehicle volume dataincludes estimates of the present volume of traffic and future volume oftraffic along the associated route segment; selecting a shortest routeof the plurality of routes based on the estimated total time of travelfor each of the plurality of route segments; generating turn-by-turndirections based on the selected shortest route; and transmitting, bythe server device to the client device, the turn-by-turn directions tothe client device.

In one example, the method further includes receiving, by the server, asecond request for turn-by-turn directions from a second client device;selecting a second route based on the second request, wherein the secondlocation is associated with a second plurality of second route segments;estimating a plurality of time periods during which the second clientdevice will be located along each of the second plurality of routesegments; and updating the vehicle volume data based on the plurality oftime periods.

In another example, the vehicle volume data includes estimates of thepresent volume of traffic and future volume of traffic along theassociated route segment for each of a plurality of time periods.

In another example, the vehicle volume data further includes an optimumcapacity for the associated route segment.

In another example, the vehicle volume data further includes estimatesof the present volume of traffic and future volume of traffic along aparticular lane of the associated route segment.

In another example, the client device is a portable computer.

In another example, the client device is a mobile phone.

In another example, the vehicle volume data is updated based on travelinformation associated with a plurality of different client devices, theinformation including the current location, destination, and route tothe destination for each client device of the plurality of differentclient devices. In one alternative, the method further includesidentifying the travel information based on requests received from eachclient device of the plurality of different client devices. In anotheralternative, the method further includes automatically receiving thetravel information from each particular client device of the pluralityof client devices independent of a request for turn-by-turn directionsfrom each particular client device.

In another example, the vehicle volume data is based on a plurality ofrequests for turn-by-turn directions received from a plurality ofdifferent client devices.

Another aspect on the invention provides a device. The device includesmemory for storing route segments wherein a route segment is associatedwith vehicle volume data and wherein the vehicle volume data includingestimates of the present volume of traffic and future volume of trafficalong the associated route segment; and a processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, from a different device, a request forturn-by-turn directions including an initial location and a finallocation; determine, a plurality of routes between the initial locationand the final location, wherein each of the plurality of routes isassociated with a plurality of route segments of the stored routesegments; for each particular route segment of the plurality of routesegments, estimate a total time of travel based on an estimated traveltime for each of the plurality of route segments associated with theparticular route, wherein the estimated travel time for the particularroute segment is based on the vehicle volume data associated with theparticular route segment; select a shortest route of the plurality ofroutes based on the estimated total time of travel for each of theplurality of route segments; estimate a time period during which theclient device will be located along each of the plurality of routesegments of the selected route; and update the vehicle volume data basedon the time period.

In one example, the processor is further configured to generateturn-by-turn directions based on the selected shortest route; andtransmit the turn-by-turn directions to the different device.

In another example, the vehicle volume data includes estimates of thepresent volume of traffic and future volume of traffic along theassociated route segment for each of a plurality of time periods.

In another example, the vehicle volume data further includes estimatesof the present volume of traffic and future volume of traffic along aparticular lane of the associated route segment.

In another example, the vehicle volume data is based on a plurality ofrequests for turn-by-turn directions received from a plurality ofdifferent client devices.

A further aspect of the invention provides a computer-readable mediumhaving instructions stored thereon for operating a vehicle routingsystem. The instructions, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to perform a method. The method includes receiving, from adevice, a request for turn-by-turn directions including an initiallocation and a final location; determining, by a server device, aplurality of routes between the initial location and the final location,wherein each of the plurality of routes is associated with a pluralityof route segments; for each particular route segment of the plurality ofroute segments, estimating a total time of travel based on an estimatedtravel time for each of the plurality of route segments associated withthe particular route, wherein the estimated travel time for theparticular route segment is based on vehicle volume data associated withthe particular route segment, and wherein the vehicle volume dataincludes estimates of the present volume of traffic and future volume oftraffic along the associated route segment; selecting a shortest routeof the plurality of routes based on the estimated total time of travelfor each of the plurality of route segments; generating turn-by-turndirections based on the selected shortest route; and transmitting, bythe server device to the client device, the turn-by-turn directions tothe client device.

In one example, the computer-readable medium includes instructions whichcause the processor to perform the method further including receiving,by the server, a second request for turn-by-turn directions from asecond client device; selecting a second route based on the secondrequest, wherein the second location is associated with a secondplurality of second route segments; estimating a plurality of timeperiods during which the second client device will be located along eachof the second plurality of route segments; and updating the vehiclevolume data based on the plurality of time periods.

In another example, the vehicle volume data includes estimates of thepresent volume of traffic and future volume of traffic along theassociated route segment for each of a plurality of time periods.

In another example, the car vehicle volume data further includes anoptimum capacity for the associated route segment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a system in accordance with an aspectof the invention.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial diagram of a system in accordance with an aspectof the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a street grid in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a street grid in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a street grid in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a street grid in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a river with multiple crossings in accordancewith an aspect of the invention.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a flow diagram in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIGS. 1-2, a system 100 in accordance with one aspect of theinvention includes a computer 110 containing a processor 120, memory 130and other components typically present in general purpose computers.

The memory 130 stores information accessible by processor 120, includinginstructions 132 and data 134 that may be executed or otherwise used bythe processor 120. The memory 130 may be of any type capable of storinginformation accessible by the processor, including a computer-readablemedium, or other medium that stores data that may be read with the aidof an electronic device, such as a hard-drive, memory card, ROM, RAM,DVD or other optical disks, as well as other write-capable and read-onlymemories. Systems and methods may include different combinations of theforegoing, whereby different portions of the instructions and data arestored on different types of media.

The instructions 132 may be any set of instructions to be executeddirectly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by theprocessor. For example, the instructions may be stored as computer codeon the computer-readable medium. In that regard, the terms“instructions” and “programs” may be used interchangeably herein. Theinstructions may be stored in object code format for direct processingby the processor, or in any other computer language including scripts orcollections of independent source code modules that are interpreted ondemand or compiled in advance. Functions, methods and routines of theinstructions are explained in more detail below.

The data 134 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 120 inaccordance with the instructions 132. For instance, although the systemand method is not limited by any particular data structure, the data maybe stored in computer registers, in a relational database as a tablehaving a plurality of different fields and records, XML documents orflat files. The data may also be formatted in any computer-readableformat. By further way of example only, image data may be stored asbitmaps comprised of grids of pixels that are stored in accordance withformats that are compressed or uncompressed, lossless (e.g., BMP) orlossy (e.g., JPEG), and bitmap or vector-based (e.g., SVG), as well ascomputer instructions for drawing graphics. The data may comprise anyinformation sufficient to identify the relevant information, such asnumbers, descriptive text, proprietary codes, references to data storedin other areas of the same memory or different memories (including othernetwork locations) or information that is used by a function tocalculate the relevant data.

The processor 120 may be any conventional processor, such as processorsfrom Intel Corporation or Advanced Micro Devices. Alternatively, theprocessor may be a dedicated controller such as an ASIC. Although FIG. 1functionally illustrates the processor and memory as being within thesame block, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat the processor and memory may actually comprise multiple processorsand memories that may or may not be stored within the same physicalhousing. For example, memory may be a hard drive or other storage medialocated in a server farm of a data center. Accordingly, references to aprocessor or computer will be understood to include references to acollection of processors or computers or memories that may or may notoperate in parallel.

The computer 110 may be at one node of a network 150 and capable ofdirectly and indirectly communicating with other nodes of the network.For example, computer 110 may comprise a web server that is capable ofcommunicating with client devices 160 and 170 via network 150 such thatserver 110 uses network 150 to transmit and display information to auser 190 on display 162 of client device 170. Server 110 may alsocomprise a plurality of computers that exchange information withdifferent nodes of a network for the purpose of receiving, processingand transmitting data to the client devices. In this instance, theclient devices will typically still be at different nodes of the networkthan any of the computers comprising server 110.

Network 150, and intervening nodes between server 110 and clientdevices, may comprise various configurations and use various protocolsincluding the Internet, World Wide Web, intranets, virtual privatenetworks, local Ethernet networks, private networks using communicationprotocols proprietary to one or more companies, cellular and wirelessnetworks (e.g., WiFi), instant messaging, HTTP and SMTP, and variouscombinations of the foregoing. Although only a few computers aredepicted in FIGS. 1-2, it should be appreciated that a typical systemcan include a large number of connected computers.

Each client device may be configured similarly to the server 110, with aprocessor, memory and instructions. Each client device 160 or 170 may bea personal computer intended for use by a person 190-192, and have allof the components normally used in connection with a personal computersuch as a central processing unit (CPU) 162, memory (e.g., RAM andinternal hard drives) storing data and instructions 163 including a webbrowser, an electronic display 162 (e. g., a monitor having a screen, asmall LCD touch-screen, a projector, a television, a computer printer orany other electrical device that is operable to display information),user input 164 (e. g., a mouse, keyboard, touch-screen or microphone),camera 166, speakers, a network interface device, and all of thecomponents used for connecting these elements to one another.

The client devices may also include a geographic position component 168,such as circuits, to determine the geographic location and orientationof the device. For example, client device 170 may include a GPS receiverto determine the device's latitude, longitude and altitude position. Inanother example, the geographic position component may also comprisesoftware for determining the position of the device based on othersignals received at the client device 170, such as signals received at acell phone's antenna from one or more cell phone towers if the clientdevice is a cell phone. In still another example, geographic positioncomponent may detect all WiFi networks in the vicinity, measure thestrength of the signal from those networks, and use a table of WiFiaccess point locations to triangulate the geographic position of theclient device. It will be understood that any number of geographicpositioning systems, alone or in combination, may be used.

Client devices may also include an accelerometer 169 or gyroscope todetermine the direction in which the device is oriented. By way ofexample only, the device may determine its pitch, yaw or roll (orchanges thereto) relative to the direction of gravity or a planeperpendicular thereto. In that regard, it will be understood that aclient device's provision of location and orientation data as set forthherein may be provided automatically to the user, to the server, orboth.

Although the client devices 160 and 170 may each comprise a full-sizedpersonal computer, they may alternatively comprise mobile devicescapable of wirelessly exchanging data with a server over a network suchas the Internet. By way of example only, client device 160 may be awireless-enabled PDA or a cellular phone capable of obtaininginformation via the Internet. The user may input information using asmall keyboard, a keypad or a touch screen. Indeed, computers inaccordance with the systems and methods described herein may compriseany device capable of processing instructions and transmitting data toand from humans and other computers including general purpose computers,and network computers lacking local storage capability

Although certain advantages are obtained when information is transmittedor received as noted above, aspects of the invention are not limited toany particular manner of transmission of information. For example, insome aspects, information may be sent via a medium such as an opticaldisk or portable drive. In other aspects, the information may betransmitted in a non-electronic format and manually entered into thesystem. Yet further, although some functions are indicated as takingplace on a server and others on a client, various aspects of the systemand method may be implemented by a single computer having a singleprocessor.

Returning to FIG. 1, data 134 may include route segment data 140. Eachroute segment may be associated with one or more geographical locations.A given route between locations may comprise a plurality of routesegments. Route segments maybe based on stretches of road betweenintersections, changes in road names, on turn instructions for theparticular determined route, or any other useful method. For example, ifthe route between location A and location C requires a turn at locationB, the route consists of two route segments, the segment A-B and thesegment B-C. Each segment may be associated with one or moreturn-by-turn directions.

Route segment data 140 may also include vehicle capacity index data. Forexample, each route segment may be associated with a capacity indexrepresenting the capacity of the route segment relative to other routesegments. The capacity index may describe how the speed of traffic alonga particular route segment varies relative to other route segmentsdepending on the volume of cars on the route segment at any given time.For example, a highway with two lanes may have roughly double thecapacity index of a highway with one lane. This may indicate that theaddition of a single vehicle on the two-lane highway would impact, forexample, by slowing down the speed of traffic roughly half as much asthe addition of a single vehicle on the one-lane highway. In anotherexample, assuming that traffic lights are more efficient at movingtraffic, an arterial road with a stop sign may have a lower capacityindex than an arterial road with a traffic light. Thus, the capacityindex is an attribute of the route segment and is independent of thenumber cars are on the road.

The examples described above are simplified examples demonstrating alinear capacity index assigned to each road. However, it will beunderstood that in a practical implementation the capacity index islikely to require sophisticated calculations to convert traffic volumeto relative speed. In another example, the capacity index may changeover time, for example, if the attributes of the route segment changed,such as the number of lanes, or if the timing of traffic signalschanged.

The capacity index for a particular route segment may be determinedbased on observation of the particular route segment over time. Forexample, the capacity index may be determined by observing the impact ontraffic speeds as additional people try to join traffic on a routesegment, building a model for each route segment that correlates trafficspeed with observed number of users driving on the road. Through suchobservation the capacity index may be used to predict the impact ontraffic speeds for a particular route segment each time an additionalvehicle enters or leaves the flow of traffic.

Route segments 140 may also be associated with vehicle volume data. Forexample, time period information may include a table, database, or otherarrangement of data which includes a current estimate of the number ofvehicles expected to be on a particular route segment within a specifiedtime period. Time periods may be defined as a time interval, forexample, 1 minute or 5 minute periods into the future. The time perioddata may be updated continuously as the server sends and receivesinformation. The table, capacity index, and vehicle volume data may beused to estimate the amount of time required for a vehicle to travel aroad segment at some time in the future.

User data 142 identifies information associated with users of thesystems, i.e., any entity that interacts with the systems or methodssuch as people or businesses. For example a particular user may requestturn-by-turn directions. As will be described in more detail below,information regarding the particular user's request such as the route orroutes requested by the user, the time of the requests, and an estimatedlocation of the user may be included in user data 142.

The system may also include direction data 144 for generatingturn-by-turn directions based on a plurality of route segments.Turn-by-turn directions may include text instructions, audioinstructions, and maps. Each turn-by-turn direction and associated routesegment may be further associated with one or more map tiles such thateach turn-by-turn direction displayed with the one or more map tiles. Itwill be understood that turn-by-turn directions are not limited toinstructions to make simple turns, for example, other directions mayinclude continuing on a road, taking a particular exit, etc.

Server 110 may store map-related information 146, at least a portion ofwhich may be transmitted to a client device. For example and as shown inFIG. 1, the server may store map tiles, where each tile comprises a mapimage of a particular geographic area. A single tile may cover an entireregion such as a state in relatively little detail and another tile maycover just a few streets in high detail. In that regard, a singlegeographic point may be associated with multiple tiles, and a tile maybe selected for transmission based on the desired level of zoom. The mapinformation is not limited to any particular format. For example, theimages may comprise street maps, satellite images, or a combination ofthese, and may be stored as vectors (particularly with respect to streetmaps) or bitmaps (particularly with respect to satellite images).

The various geographical locations, map tiles are each associated withsuch that the server 110 and/or client device are capable of selecting,retrieving, transmitting, or displaying one or more tiles in response toreceiving one or more geographical location.

The system and method may process locations expressed in different ways,such as latitude/longitude positions, street addresses, streetintersections, an x-y coordinate with respect to the edges of a map(such as a pixel position when a user clicks on a map), names ofbuildings and landmarks, and other information in other referencesystems that is capable of identifying geographic locations (e.g., lotand block numbers on survey maps). Moreover, a location may define arange of the foregoing. The system and method may further translatelocations from one reference system to another. For example, the client170 may employ or access a geocoder to convert a location identified inaccordance with one reference system (e. g., a street address such as“1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, Calif.”) into a locationidentified in accordance with another reference system (e.g., alatitude/longitude coordinate such as (37.423021°, 122.083939)). In thatregard, it will be understood that exchanging or processing locationsexpressed in one reference system, such as street addresses, may also bereceived or processed in other reference systems as well.

In addition to the operations described below and illustrated in thefigures, various operations in accordance with a variety of aspects ofthe invention will now be described. It should be understood that thefollowing operations do not have to be performed in the precise orderdescribed below. Rather, various steps can be handled in reverse orderor simultaneously.

A client device may transmit a request for turn-by-turn directionsbetween two or more locations. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a usermay identify an initial location A 310 and a final location B 320, or,in another example, the user may identify a final location and theclient device may determine the initial location, for example GPScoordinates. As noted above, locations may be provided in any number offorms including street addresses, points of interest, or GPScoordinates. Location A may be located, for example, at 50 1st Avenuewhile location B may be located, for example, at 250 2nd Avenue.

In response to receiving the locations, a server may determine possibleroutes between the received locations. As shown in FIG. 4, the servermay identify two possible routes between location A and location B.Route 410 includes moving east along 18 Avenue, turning south (right)onto Super Street and turning east (left) onto 2nd Avenue. Route 420,includes moving east along 1st Avenue, turning south (right) onto MainStreet, and turning east (left) onto 2nd Avenue. It will be understoodthat while the example only includes two routes, the server may identifyany number of routes between the locations.

Each of routes 410 and 420 may include one or more route segments. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 5, route 1 410 consists of route segment 510between 50 1^(st) Avenue and the intersection of 1^(st) Avenue and SuperStreet, route segment 520 between the intersection of Super Street and1^(st) Avenue and the intersection of Super Street and 2^(nd) Avenue,and the intersection of Main Street and 2nd Avenue, and route segment540 between the intersection of Main Street and 2nd Avenue and 250 2ndAvenue.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 6, route 1 420 consists of route segment 510between 50 1st Avenue and the intersection of 1st Avenue and SuperStreet, route segment 620 between the intersection of Super Street and1st Avenue and the intersection of Main Street and 1st Avenue, routesegment 630 between the intersection of Main Street and 1st Avenue andthe intersection of Main Street and 2nd Avenue, and route segment 540between the intersection of Main Street and 2nd Avenue and 250 2ndAvenue.

Returning to route 410, server may identify the four route segments 510,520, 530, and 540. For each segment of route 410, the server maycalculate an estimated drive time for the route under expected trafficconditions. For example, the process may begin by estimating that theuser will leave location A for location B immediately. Thus, user Awould be moving along route segment 510 the estimated number of vehiclesthat are located along route segment 510 at the present time. Using theestimated number of vehicles and the capacity index, the server maydetermine an approximate time of travel along route segment 510.

The server will determine the approximate time of travel along the nextroute segment based on the approximate time of travel of the previousroute segment. For example, if the server determines that it will takeapproximately 2 minutes to move along route segment 510 and get to routesegment 520, the server will determine from the time period informationassociated with route segment 520, the estimated number of vehicles thatwill be located along route segment 520 2 minutes from the present time.Using the estimated number of vehicles and the capacity index, theserver may determine an approximate time of travel along route segment520. The server may repeat the process described above for routesegments 530 and 540.

Once the server has determined the estimated travel time for each routesegment of a route, the server may determine the estimated travel timefor the entire route. For example, the estimated travel time for route410 may be the sum of the estimated travel times for each of routesegments 510, 520, 530, and 540. Similarly, the server may determine theestimated travel time for route 420 based on the estimated travel timesfor each of the route segments 510, 620, 630, and 540.

The server may select a fastest route by comparing the estimated traveltimes of the determined routes. Thus if the estimated travel time ofroute 410 is less than the estimated travel time of route 420, theserver will select route 410. The reverse may also be true.

The server may generate turn-by-turn directions based on the selectedroute and transmit the route to the client device.

Once the server has selected a fastest route, the server may update thevehicle volume data for each route segment along the fastest route. Forexample, if the selected route is route 410, the server may estimatethat an additional vehicle may be moving along route segment 510presently and an additional vehicle may be moving along route segment520 2 minutes in the future. The server may make similar estimations forthe remaining route segments, 530 and 540, of route 410.

This information may be incorporated into the time period informationassociated with each route segment. Thus, the time period informationassociated with route segment 510 may be updated to include anadditional vehicle presently, the time period information associatedwith route segment 520 may be updated to include an additional vehicleat a time of two minutes into the future, etc.

When the server receives a new request for a route, the server may usethe updated vehicle volume data to identify a new fastest route. Forexample, if the server receives a new request for a route and thepotential route includes route segment, for example 520, the server mayestimate that if a potential route would require a vehicle to move alongroute segment 520 2 minutes in the future, the additional vehicle movingalong route segment 520 at that time may increase the estimated traveltime along route segment 520. The server may determine that at the timeof the new request, route 410 is no longer the fastest route andidentify a different route, for example, route 420 as the fastest route.

FIG. 7 depicts a further example. Here, the server may receive requestsat around 5:00 p.m. for a route between an office complex and a highwayentrance ramp. In the example, the average drive time along route 710over bridge 1 and along route 720 over bridge 2 may be equal, and it maytake an estimated 10 minutes for a vehicle to reach bridge 1 from theoffice complex. If in the example, bridge 1 has slightly less trafficthan bridge 2 at the time period of 5:10 p.m. when the requesting usermay be crossing the bridge, the server may recommend route 710. Theserver may determine that based on the received request and anassumption that the user will follow the recommended route 710, leavingimmediately and arriving at the bridge at 5:10 p.m., the traffic alongbridges 1 and 2 at time period of 5:10 may be about equal. Accordingly,additional requests for the route may be routed either along route 710or route 720.

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a client device may request a route betweenlocations and display turn-by-turn directions. For example, client 160may request a route between location A and location B, as shown in block805. Then at block 810, server 110 may receive the locations andgenerate N potential routes between location A and location B, as shownin block 815. At block 820 of FIG. 8B server 110 may identify routesegments associated with the Nth potential route. Then at block 825, theserver 110 may select a route segment of the route segments identifiedat block 820. For the selected route segment, server 110 may estimatethe time of travel, as shown in block 830. This estimate may be based onvehicle volume data for the particular route segment at a particulartime generated from the estimated location of other users A, B, and C atblocks 826-829 at the particular time. It will be understood that as thecurrent locations of the various users A, B, and C change, the carvolume data may be updated accordingly. Thus, the travel time for theparticular route segment may be predicted based on what the volume onthat route segment will be in the future (e.g. when client 160 wouldarrive to a route segment being considered).

As shown in block 835, if there are additional route segments, theserver may select the next route segment of the identified routesegments at block 825 and estimates a time of travel at block 830 basedon the updated (and predicted) vehicle volume data from block 829.

If there are no additional route segments, server 110 estimates a totaltime of travel for the selected route, as shown in block 840. If thereare additional potential routes at block 845, the server may identify anext route of the N potential routes, as shown in 850. Then, the servermay identify route segments associated with the next route of the Npotential routes. Server 110 may select a route segment of the nextroute at block 825 and continue at block 830.

If there are no additional potential routes at block 845, server 110 mayselect the route of the N routes with the lowest estimated travel time,as shown in block 870. Then at block 875, server 110 may generateturn-by-turn directions based on the selected route.

Then at block 880, server 110 may estimate the time that client device160 may arrive at each route segment of the selected segment, forexample, based on the estimated departure time of the client device andthe estimated travel time for all previous route segments of theselected route. This information may be used to update the car volumedata as shown in block 829.

Returning to FIG. 8A, at block 885, the server may transmit theturn-by-turn directions to client 160 to be displayed as shown in block890.

The vehicle volume data may be continuously updated for variousadditional reasons. For example, if the server identifies a change intraffic speeds along a particular route segment. In another example,where the client device is portable, such as a cell phone or laptop, thedevice may move off the route as determined by identifying the currentlocation of the device (e.g. by GPS coordinates) and comparing thelocation to the route. A new route may be calculated and the vehicleremoved from the time period table associated with route segments of theold route. In a further example, the server may receive locationinformation without a request for turn-by-turn directions from theclient device. The server may determine the route segment associatedwith the received location information and use this information toupdate the time period table.

The server may provide turn-by-turn directions including laneinstructions. For example, vehicle volume data may not only beassociated with a particular route segment, but a given lane of aparticular route segment. Server 110 may estimate a lane associated witha particular vehicle, for example, by utilizing very high-precisionlocation georeferencing technology. In that regard, the server mayestimate the total time of travel based on the estimated speed of thevehicles traveling in a particular lane. Thus, the server may provideturn-by-turn directions including instructions indicating the fastestlane of travel.

The server may determine the optimal capacity of vehicles on a givenroute segment and make route recommendations based at least on how closeeach route segment of a route is to that route segment's optimalcapacity.

The server may make route recommendations based at least on the receivedrequests for turn-by-turn directions. For example, the server may makeroute recommendations in order to balance the flow of vehicles alongvarious route segments.

It will be further understood that the sample values, in the types andconfigurations of data described and shown figures are for illustrationpurposes only. In that regard, systems and methods in accordance withaspects of the invention may include different web sites, data values,data types and configurations, and may be provided and received atdifferent times (e.g., via different web pages) and by differententities (e.g., some values may be pre-suggested or provided fromdifferent sources).

As these and other variations and combinations of the features discussedabove can be utilized without departing from the invention as defined bythe claims, the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments should betaken by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation of theinvention as defined by the claims. It will also be understood that theprovision of examples of the invention (as well as clauses phrased as“such as,” “e.g.”, “including” and the like) should not be interpretedas limiting the invention to the specific examples; rather, the examplesare intended to illustrate only some of many possible aspects.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for providingdirections, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more computingdevices, a request for turn-by-turn directions; determining, by the oneor more computing devices, at least one route associated with theturn-by-turn directions, wherein the at least one route is associatedwith a plurality of route segments; estimating, by the one or morecomputing devices, a travel time for the route, wherein the travel timeis based on vehicle data associated with a lane of at least one routesegment, wherein the vehicle data comprises an estimated speedassociated with the lane based, at least in part, on an estimated numberof vehicles traveling on the lane; generating, by the one or morecomputing devices, the turn-by-turn directions based on the travel timefor the route, wherein the turn-by-turn directions include instructionsindicating a fastest lane of travel along the route; and transmitting,by the one or more computing devices to a first client device, theturn-by-turn directions.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the vehicle data comprises estimates of a present volume oftraffic and a future volume of traffic along the at least one routesegment.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, furthercomprising: estimating, by the one or more computing devices, a timeperiod during which the first client device will be located along theroute; and updating, by the one or more computing devices, the futurevolume of traffic based on the time period.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein the turn-by-turn directions comprise a map.5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle datais based on a plurality of requests for directions received from aplurality of second client devices.
 6. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the client device is a portable device.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle datacomprises a capacity index indicative of a capacity of a route segmentrelative to other route segments.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 7, wherein the capacity index correlates a traffic speedassociated with a particular route segment with a number of vehicles onthe particular route segment.
 9. A computing device comprising: memoryfor storing route segments, wherein each route segment is associatedwith vehicle volume data; and one or more processors configured to:receive, a request for turn-by-turn directions; determine at least oneroute for the turn-by-turn directions, wherein the at least one route isassociated with a plurality of route segments; estimate a travel timefor the route, wherein the travel time is based on vehicle dataassociated with a lane of at least one route segment, wherein thevehicle data comprises an estimated speed associated with the lanebased, at least in part, on an estimated number of vehicles traveling onthe lane; generate the turn-by-turn directions based on the travel timefor the route, wherein the turn-by-turn directions include instructionsindicating a fastest lane of travel along the at least one route; andtransmit, to a first client device, the turn-by-turn directions.
 10. Thecomputing device of claim 9, wherein the vehicle data comprisesestimates of a present volume of traffic and a future volume of trafficalong the at least route segment.
 11. The computing device of claim 9,wherein the processors are further configured to: estimate a time periodduring which the first client device will be located along the at leastone route; and update the future volume of traffic based on the timeperiod.
 12. The computing device of claim 9, wherein turn-by-turndirections comprise a map.
 13. The computing device of claim 9, whereinthe vehicle data is based on a plurality of requests for directionsreceived from a plurality of second client devices.
 14. The computingdevice of claim 9, wherein the client device is a mobile phone.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions storedthereon for operating a vehicle routing system, the instructions, whenexecuted by one or more computing devices, cause the one or morecomputing devices to perform a method comprising: receiving, a requestfor turn-by-turn directions; determining at least one route associatedwith the turn-by-turn directions, wherein the at least one route isassociated with a plurality of route segments; estimating a travel timefor the route, wherein the travel time is based on vehicle dataassociated with a lane of at least one route segment, wherein thevehicle data comprises an estimated speed associated with the lanebased, at least in part, on an estimated number of vehicles traveling onthe lane; generating the turn-by-turn directions based on the traveltime for the at least one route, wherein the turn-by-turn directionsinclude instructions indicating a fastest lane of travel along the atleast one route; and transmitting, to a first client device, theturn-by-turn directions.
 16. The computing device of non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the vehicle data comprisesan estimated speed of the vehicles traveling in the lane.
 17. Thecomputing device of non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the vehicle data comprises estimates of a present volume oftraffic and a future volume of traffic along the at least route segment.18. The computing device of non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the processors are further configured to: estimating atime period during which the first client device will be located alongthe at least one route; and updating the future volume of traffic basedon the time period.
 19. The computing device of non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the turn-by-turndirections comprise a map.
 20. The computing device of non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the vehicle data is basedon a plurality of requests for directions received from a plurality ofsecond client devices.